The book addresses controversies related to the origins of cancer and provides solutions to cancer management and prevention. It expands upon Otto Warburg's well-known theory that all cancer is a disease of energy metabolism. However, Warburg did not link his theory to the "hallmarks of cancer" and thus his theory was discredited. This book aims to provide evidence, through case studies, that cancer is primarily a metabolic disease requring metabolic solutions for its management and prevention. Support for this position is derived from critical assessment of current cancer theories. Brain cancer case studies are presented as a proof of principle for metabolic solutions to disease management, but similarities are drawn to other types of cancer, including breast and colon, due to the same cellular mutations that they demonstrate.
Customer Reviews from Amazon :Compelling evidence to support cancer as a metabolic disease
Dr. Seyfried provides compelling evidence that cancer is a metabolic disease (NOT a genetic disease), and this has major implications for the treatment and prevention of cancer.
According to Otto Warburg's theory of cancer, mitochondrial dysfunction is the origin of cancer. Dr. Seyfried has amassed extensive evidence to support Warburg's theory and advances the idea that cancer arises from defects in energy metabolism (mitochondrial dysfunction), and that this metabolic dysfunction triggers genomic instability by activating oncogenes, inactivating tumor suppressor genes, etc. The author does an incredible job at convincing the reader that healthy mitochondria are the ultimate tumor suppressor.
It's clear that the strategy to treat cancer as a genetic disease is not working, but this fuels the pharmaceutical industry. Enormous amounts of money are spent on large cancer genome projects, but this has not advanced our understanding or treatment of cancer. The information from these genome projects has actually created more confusion amongst cancer researchers, and this is very clear if one reads the literature. On the other hand, when cancer is viewed as a metabolic disease the strategies to treat and prevent cancer become incredibly simplistic and economical. For example, animals studies, case reports and anecdotal evidence demonstrate that metabolic therapies that lower blood glucose and elevate ketones will shrink tumors, extend lifespan and in some cases cause complete remission. This strategy is effective because cancer cells are fueled by glucose and lack the ability to derive energy from ketones (due to mitochondrial defects). Metabolic therapies exploit the mitochondrial defects associated with cancer by targeting glucose metabolism and elevating ketones. These therapies are simple and include "therapeutic fasting", calorie restricted ketogenic diets and relatively cheap and safe drugs that target cancer-specific metabolic pathways. The information in this book is valuable to patients and supported by extensive references. This book is technical (in parts), but the author has the ability to describe complicated processes with elegant simplicity.
I read this book immediately after reading "The Secret History of the War on Cancer" and "The Emperor of All Maladies". These are excellent books, but I found Dr. Seyfried's book to be more informative and empowering because it gives the reader clear evidence for the cause of cancer and highly effective strategies to prevent and treat the disease.
I would highly recommend this book to all cancer researchers, oncologists and layman interested in understanding the origin, management and treatment of cancer as a metabolic disease. This book will also be an extremely valuable resource for patients diagnosed with cancer.
Dominic D'Agostino, PhD, University of South Florida
a new look at caloric restriction and cancer
It has been known for a long time that caloric restriction led to longevity but also that it stopped cancer growth, some completely and many partial suppression with later recurrences.
Dr. Seyfried spent his whole career looking at an old concept defining cancer as a metabolic abnormality (Warburg). The fact that our PET scans show high glucose uptake in almost all types of cancer proves that cancers have a unique metabolic abnormality unlike normal differentiated cells. Simply put cancer cells require large amounts of glucose, or sugar to survival and multiply.
The cancer cells have an inefficient metabolism utilizing fermentation or glycolysis instead of using mitochondria for a more efficient way of make ATP energy via oxidative phosphorylation.
Why our own medical profession has not looked into this feature of cancer for therapeutic strategies is also odd.
It is well know that Caloric Restriction stops cancer growth and many nutritional support such as macrobiotics and Hippocrates raw foods all have the common denominator of -- low calories with dense nutrition.
I suspect in the next 10 years there will be more discussions and research on use caloric restrictions, on use of alternative body fuel or energy source such as ketones, and glucose analogues, and ways to disrupt glycolysis and abnormal mitochondrial functions by using metabolic approaches to treat cancers.
I recommend this book to layman and professionals who are interested in the biology of cancers. top rating
Iconoclastic approach to cancer
Dr. Seyfried has distilled a life time of basic science investigation into a brilliant summary of the causes of cancer. Although heavily scientific it reads like a mystery novel.
He directly challenges the prevalent "gene theory" of cancer that forms the basis of virtually all investigative efforts into cancer. He then details the origin, scientific basis and practicality of the metabolic cause of cancer.
Most importantly, he proposes a paradigm shift in how we should at least consider treating malignancies and in particular, brain cancer.
Based on evolutionary biology this book makes sense! It should be read by every scientist involved with the biology and treatment of cancer and by laymen with a scientific background. It is one of the most important books I have read as a neurosurgeon dealing with brain tumor patients in over 25 years.
The Most Important Book about Cancer Cell Metabolism
I am a board-certified medical oncologist with 30 years experience in caring for cancer patients and another 20 years of research in cancer medicine dating back to 1963. Seyfried's "Cancer as a Metabolic Disease" is the most significant book I have read in my 50 years in this field. It should be required reading of all cancer specialists, physicians in general, scientific researchers in the field of cancer and for medical students. I cannot overstate what a valuable contribution Thomas Seyfried has made in writing this masterpiece.
Stephen B. Strum, MD, FACP
Medical Oncologist, Member of ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) since 1975
Are we ready for a paradigm shift?
Seyfried's marvelous book, highly technical and written for the cancer researcher, brings together the large body of research bearing on Nobel prize winner Otto Warburg's theories of the metabolic basis of cancer. It is an homage to Warburg and the depth and quality of his original work, a useful critique of the subsequent studies which refuted Warburg, and an extension of the metabolic theory making use of research completed since.
Seyfried systematically addreses this model of cancer from stem to stern, analyzing the studies to date in a way that illuminates the strengths and weaknesses of existing arguments within this field of study. (He also has a good sense of humor, and isn't afraid to call out colleagues who perhaps ought to address weak areas within their own arguments.)
My main criticism of the book is one common to most publications in the field: it provides only a narrow purview and fails to acknowledge the broader work done by those outside a given specilization. The therapies advocated by the author are useful in particular for noting the impact of glutamine levels as well as the sugar-loving nature of cancer, and using those in a restrictive dietary regimen. There are, however, a growing number of safe, gentle and effective therapeutic approaches to cancer based on the metabolic theory. As Warburg himself suspected, nutriton appears to be a powerful and central component of not only cancer prevention, but primary treatment and lifestyle changes as follow up.
On the whole, kudos for bringing attention back to the fundamentals! The depth of understanding provided by this "mega-review paper" should provide firm footing for those developing metabolic therapies. If this work is fully assimilated by the cancer industry, it could provide the basic scientific fuel for a major sea change in the way cancer medicine is practiced.
書名 Cancer as a metabolic disease : on the origin, management, and prevention of cancer
著者 by Thomas N. Seyfried
索書號 QZ200/S519/2012
出版者 Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN 9780470584927 (hbk.)
出版年 2012
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